Every Derek Fisher Playoff Appearance, By Year

At age 39, Fisher spent a good portion of the regular season filling in for an injured Russell Westrbook (who’s 14 years his junior) but has since fallen back to a supporting role. He averages 14.2 mpg and only attempts about four shots per game, which is about what Westbrook gets up before even breaking a sweat.

After negotiating to end the lockout (he was the Players Association prez), Oklahoma City brought Fish in as a veteran presence for their young locker room. The move paid off when Fisher helped propel the Thunder past San Antonio to make it to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Heat.

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2011

The Lakers got swept by eventual champion Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semis, but the final game (known in Big D as the Mother’s Day Massacre) the Mavs hit a playoff-record 20 3-pointers was an ugly way to end Phil Jackson’s coaching career.

Fish averaged 11.2 (41.3% from three) as the Lakers sealed the three-peat, sweeping the Nets.

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2001

Fisher set an NBA record with 15 three-pointers in the Lakers’ four-game semifinals sweep over San Antonio, before helping LA take down AI’s Sixers in five games.

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2000

In the Lake Show’s first year under Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher was a role player whose job it was to get take hammers from other team’s stars and leave the shooting to Robert Horry and Brian Shaw. Fisher only started 22 games all season but got his first ring that year.

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1999

He started Game 1 of the first-round series against the Barkley-led Rockets and had 20 points but Fisher’s job was mainly to take these talking-tos from Brian Shaw. The Lakers got swept by the Sacramento Kings in the next round.

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1998

It was close friend Nick Van Exel’s knee injury that gave Fisher his first opportunity. The fanbase didn’t much know about the reserve so local TV put together this introductory video package that trumpeted his “family values” and “work ethic.” This Sports Illustrated cover was pretty much the highlight of Fish’s run as LA got swept by Utah in the conference finals.

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1997

A rookie reserve, fresh-faced Fisher appeared in just six playoff games. The Lake Show eventually lost that year in the conference semis (4-1) to the Jazz.

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Every game OKC advances to extends Derek Fisher’s NBA record for playoff appearances (he’s up to 247) and ever since he took former teammate Robert Horry’s spot in the history in Game 5 of OKC’s series against Memphis. Now that the Thunder are headed to the Western Conference Semis, D-Fish will surely pad that total. But Fisher’s streak isn’t really about numbers. He’s scored more than 2000 points and played over 6642 minutes, averaging a mere 8.5 ppg in postseason appearances for the Lakers, Jazz and Thunder. But the combo guard, drafted 24th out of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has so many iconic playoff moments throughout his career that despite minor figures, he’ll always be remembered for having major roles in all five of his championships. As he guns for a sixth, we looked back at every single postseason in which Fisher has hit the floor.